Julian House to open new rough sleeper outreach service in Gloucestershire
We are pleased to announce that Julian House will begin delivery of a new outreach service in April 2025, supporting people forced to sleep rough across Gloucestershire to navigate their way back to security and independence.
This service has been commissioned by Gloucester City Council on behalf of Gloucestershire Housing Partnership.
It will provide tailored support for rough sleepers across the county – with different approaches for rough sleepers in urban and rural areas.
In urban Gloucester and Cheltenham, the team will provide daily outreach walks to connect with people sleeping on the cities’ streets and help them access expert support and local off-the-streets accommodation.
In rural areas, the team will work with local partners and the general public to identify rough sleepers in hard-to-reach or isolated locations and bring support to them.
Rough sleeping can be less visible in rural areas, but that doesn’t make it any less dangerous for the people experiencing it. Our team will strive to reach those people who have been lost to public view or are unable to access vital support services that are far from their location.
In all cases, the goal will be to reduce rough sleeping in the county and help more people to access the support and accommodation they need to get their lives back on track.
Julian House is a charity that helps people in crisis find a route to something better.
It already provides rough sleeper outreach services in Bath and North East Somerset, Exeter, Dorset and Basingstoke as well as accommodation and other support services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness across the South West. This will be the charity’s first service in Gloucestershire.
Helen Bedser, Chief Executive at Julian House, says, “We are looking forward to bringing our experience of partnership working and supporting people experiencing rough sleeping in cities and rural areas to Gloucestershire. One night spent sleeping rough is one too many. We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and recover from the trauma of homelessness.”
Ruth Saunders, co-chair of the Gloucestershire Housing Partnership and Corporate Director at Gloucester City Council, said: “Julian House have a wealth of experience and will be able to bring best practice from the other areas they operate in as well and a new approach to supporting people at this difficult time in their lives.”
The service will start on the 1 April 2025.
To find out more about the Julian House teams who keep rough sleepers safe via outreach support, have a look here: Meet the teams keeping clients safe in extreme weather | Julian House
